Thought pieces from academics making the decision to leave the academy have increased in number over the recent years. Al-Diwan brings you a small selection of articles and blog posts from such scholars as they highlight the complexities in choosing to leave academia and why they have made this decision. This piece was originally featured on Tadween's Diwan blog.

In a four-part series, Dr. Allison Harbin recalls the moment beginning of the story that would forever change her perspective on academia and her own Ph.D. journey. She writes about the difficulties and stresses of navigating academia’s bureaucracies and hierarchies while simultaneously finalizing and defending her dissertation.

Academia is no stranger to Dr. Karen Kelsky, who decided to leave the field after being tenured. In this short article, she provides support and encouragement for both those who feel it is time to take their exit from academia and those who want to continue on the academic route.

Initially, Dr. Anne Trubek was consumed with the unfathomable thought of leaving academia as a tenured faculty member. As the question of whether to leave or stay continued to harp at her, Trubek started to look around at her colleagues in academia and realized that choosing to leave academia is actually more common than expected.

Dr. Terran Lane was not, and is not, alone in his frustration and disappointment with the state of academia. Citing the lack of resources, autonomy, flexibility, and respect for learning as only a few of the reasons that pushed him to make the decision to leave the academy, Lane outlines a dim future for academia if nothing changes in the near future.

The decision to leave academia is not always made out of unhappiness, anger, and disillusionment in the institution; rather, Dr. Lisa Munro’s exit came once she “conceded defeat to the job market.” In this blog post, Munro reflects on how she processed the new level of grief that she went through after making the choice to pursue a life outside of academia.

Announcing his departure from academia, Dr. Steven Salaita sends a clear message to current and future academics: self-censorship for the sake of personal success in academia is not affordable with academia’s current state of affairs.